Celebrity User Just Off Discovery Yesterday (First Princess Cruise)

[Guindalf]

Let me start with a little background. This was our 23rd cruise - on Celebrity since I quit smoking in 2015 and their casinos are smoke free!

 

We're not snobs and most of our cruises have been in a balcony room. Our previous two were in a Sky Suite on Apex and Solstice. For this reason, we booked an accessible Penthouse Suite, costing a similar amount. The last Celebrity cruise was the Mexican Riviera in early February (shadowing Discovery all the way, by coincidence)!

 

For the TL:DR brigade, here is my conclusion, with more details to come...

 

The whole cruise can  be described as 'OK, but not great! We'll be going back to Celebrity, here they know how to treat suite guests.

 

I'll try to and answer any questions if I can.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Guindalf

[Plato123]

While I tend to agree with you, we have noticed that Celebrity is getting very expensive and cutting back in several areas.  Most of our cruises have been with Celebrity in suites up to Royal Suites, but most often Sky Suites.  Our most recent cruise was with Princess in a Penthouse Suite and, while it did not measure up to a Celebrity Sky suite, it was fine but cabin service was poor and suite benefits were limited, We did enjoy the Concierge lounge on the Royal, on our cruise, and the services of our concierge which was just like the service we were used to from staff in Michaels's Club on Celebrity..

Our next cruise will be on Princess again but this time in an Owner's Suite and we booked it for the itinerary and also the price.  After that we will be back on Celebrity next year to see how things have changed.  

[Guindalf]

Pre-Cruise and Embarkation:

 

We flew in on Saturday and stayed in the Baymont Hotel by the airport. The room was fine (an accessible one) and it was just fine. As Amazon Prime members, we get a free year of GrubHub plus, so we ordered my favorite Indian food. For those that know about food from this Asian sub-continent, we ordered very basic dishes, Chicken Korma and Shrimp vindaloo, along with rice and garlic naan. Now, where we live, it's impossible to get Indian food. The closet I can get is one very good Thai restaurant, which gets frequented regularly.

 

The heat ratings were offered in six settings, going from one to six. We ordered a one for the Korma (for the DW) and a six for the Vindaloo for me. I was really drooling at the mouth, looking forward to my first Indian curry sine we sailed to the Mexican Riviera in February!

 

$54 and almost an hour later, the order arrived - the driver had difficulty in reading a room number from the order. DW went to the restroom, so I opened the containers for both curries (for two reasons - one to see how they taste and two to make sure it wasn't too spicy for her). I kept quiet, so she could give her opinion, but I found both to be disgusting and, in fact for me, inedible. The chicken in the Korma was stewed and the shrimp in the vindaloo was so overcooked that I reckon it would bounce! Her opinion was the same and even the naan failed the edible test.

 

So, we went hungry. Not a good start!

 

Embarkation:

 

We absolutely LOVE the medallions! Once we got used to people knowing who we were when we walked up to them (yes, I'm looking at you, Crown Grill host! Everything was smooth and easy, but there was no recognition that we were auite guests. No-one welcomed us or showed us to our cabin, which was ready-ish when we got there - well, ready enough to drop our carry-ons and go for lunch in the Reserve dining room on the starboard side of Skagway dining room. The food was OK.

 

One suite perk is to eat in a specialty restaurant on the first night, so we chose the aforementioned Crown Grill. Our mains were fairly straightforward - Ribeye for her and Lobster for me. Both were OK, but not spectacular, a theme you'll notice throughout the cruise!

[Guindalf]

27 minutes ago, Plato123 said:

While I tend to agree with you, we have noticed that Celebrity is getting very expensive and cutting back in several areas.  Most of our cruises have been with Celebrity in suites up to Royal Suites, but most often Sky Suites.  Our most recent cruise was with Princess in a Penthouse Suite and, while it did not measure up to a Celebrity Sky suite, it was fine but cabin service was poor and suite benefits were limited, We did enjoy the Concierge lounge on the Royal, on our cruise, and the services of our concierge which was just like the service we were used to from staff in Michaels's Club on Celebrity..

Our next cruise will be on Princess again but this time in an Owner's Suite and we booked it for the itinerary and also the price.  After that we will be back on Celebrity next year to see how things have changed.  

 

I agree with every word! I haven't gotten as far as Bradley, our concierge, yet.

[Ombud]

Speaking as a riff-raff cruiser, perhaps the thread title should be "Celebrity Suite-Only User Just Off Discovery Yesterday (First Princess Reserve Suite Cruise)" 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Ombud

[Guindalf]

5 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Speaking as a riff-raff cruiser, perhaps the thread title should be "Celebrity Suite-Only User Just Off Discovery Yesterday (First Princess Reserve Suite Cruise)" 

 

I would have made it that, were it true! We often sail in a balcony cabin, but since I use a mobility scooter, it gives us a little extra room!

[Ombud]

Did I misread?? Aren't you comparing suites to suites??

2 hours ago, Guindalf said:

Sky Suite on Apex and Solstice. For this reason, we booked an accessible Penthouse Suite .... We'll be going back to Celebrity, here they know how to treat suite guests

(I think you meant 'there' not 'here' but this 'can only afford balcony' cruiser bowing out now. Nothing wrong with suites expecting more courtesy than the rest of us)

 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Ombud

[phabric]

Following along

[XBGuy]

Itinerary?

 

TL:DR?

[Guindalf]

Just to add to the fun of the flights, I forgot to add that we had a free trial of Clear, so e were expecting an easier time going through security. All was fine until the machine asked for a payment of $260 to continue! For a free trial? I don't think so! We had to get in the regular line and, until I was pulled out to a shorter queue due to my scooter. It all added to the frustration, but thankfully we were in plenty of time. This was when I found out that Alaska Air doesn't have a lounge in ATL!

 

Day Two: Anyway, Day two was a sea day. I always seek out the Trivia and the first was at 10:00am (same time every day) and there were several throughout the say. Some were general knowledge and others were themed, like Friends, Harry Potter, Disney. etc., all with generic names (House of Mouse, for example) for copyright reasons. We won a few, lost a few and came close with others. We gave our prizes away when we won - anything from bottles of champagne to wine stoppers, water bottles and notebooks and we actually came dead last in the How I Met Your Mother quiz (we've never watched and were only there because it followed a different quiz). We scored zero and even then, we got losers prizes!

 

 

[Guindalf]

12 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

Itinerary?

 

TL:DR?

 

Itinerary: Alaska - Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway with an evening stop in Victoria, British Columbia.

 

TL:DR - Too Long, Didn't Read.

[Sunwanabe]

We have done 4 cruises with Princess. 2 on Discovery. I can't compare to Celebrity but have loved each PC we have been on. We did tease about going with Celebrity Apex next spring but based on cost and itinerary we have booked with PC again for spring.  

[Cruise Raider]

We’ve cruised extensively on both lines but mostly on Princess since the restart back in July 2021, otherwise known as the day I got my life back!  

While Celebrity has been our favorite cruiseline in the past, Princess took the lead when we did a side by side comparison in April.  To start, we rarely book full suites but both rooms we booked were comparable balcony cabins.  We cruised on Celebrity for one week out of San Pedro in LA and walked over to the next terminal to board the Discovery.  

These were the differences I noticed:

 

The boarding for Celebrity was more chaotic (that’s more about the terminal than the cruise-line itself)

We were able to drop off our luggage in our cabin closet and head for lunch in the dining room on Princess.  Celebrity did not have this option.  
The classic beverage package on Celebrity didn’t include wines that Princess included on their Plus beverage package (that may all have changed by now as the wine choices on both lines are not great) 

The cabins on Celebrity kick butt but I do love the open closet design on Princess.  The beds are also somewhat more comfortable on Princess.  
The buffet on the Royal Class ships are far superior to those on Celebrity .. on the Grand class ships, the complete opposite is true.  
Service was great on both lines!  
Celebrity served all their drinks, including the drinking glasses, in Riedel stemware. Wow!  I’ve actually gotten martinis on Princess in a plastic glass as they were all out of the glass stemware.  
The procedures for immigration … without a doubt, Princess wins this one by a MILE!  
I think the food won out on Princess and I probably wouldn’t have said that in the past.  
The Crown Grill was phenomenal and half the price of Murano on Celebrity.  
I can honestly say, I really missed the medallion app and the medallion.  There was really no place to get food midday on Celebrity unless you went to the Lido deck.  I missed having a salad delivered to me wherever I may have found a seat, like I can do on Princess. 
We did go to the coffee house breakfast in the Tuscan a few times and the service was just so poor in there that we stopped going.  I don’t need to feel special but hate to be completely ignored.  
The coffee drinks at Cafe Al Bacio on Celebrity was probably the absolute BEST I’ve ever had!  
We absolutely love the nonsmoking in the casino on Celebrity! 
The biggest difference was the entertainment, activities and events.  We met several others that did the same side by side cruises and the consensus was, Celebrity was just kind of boring.  There was always something fun to participate in on Princess.  And if you felt like just relaxing with some quiet time, there was that, too!  

 

We didn’t have a bad time on Celebrity, far from it … it’s just that Princess suited us so much better.  Again, it’s not always been like that, as Celebrity really was our favorite in the past.  And there were things about Celebrity that we liked so much more.  This comes from a frequent standard balcony cruiser so, that may make a difference.  We are not demanding but do love decent to great wine.  We are not foodies but can tell if it is just not great food.  

 

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Cruise Raider

[Ken the cruiser]

Sorry you didn't enjoy your Day 1 on your first Princess cruise as much as you would have hoped. Hopefully, once you got settled in, the rest of your cruise became a lot more fun. It appears you found the Princess Live! where I would imagine a lot of the trivia games were conducted at. Did you go to the evening game shows usually held around 8 pm? The entertainment staff to include the CD on occasion always seem to work extra hard to keep us laughing at those! 

 

We used to enjoy going on Celebrity cruises until their prices for Aqua and above got stupid, especially with the 20% penalty they now tack on if you want to book a cruise with a refundable deposit. But with Princess' diverse 3-5 week itineraries, the awesome treatment we get every day when dining in the Reserve Dining Room, whether we're in a suite or a Reserve Collection mini suite, as well as going to the theater and game shows every night, we'll probably pass on Celebrity cruises for at least the next 3-4 years. But then we're in our 70s and no longer in Celebrity's target demographic.

[deltahog]

15 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

The buffet on the Royal Class ships are far superior to those on Celebrity .. on the Grand class ships, the complete opposite is true.  
 

 

Which one is Discovery?  Royal or Grand?

[Cruise Raider]

4 minutes ago, deltahog said:

Which one is Discovery?  Royal or Grand?

 
The Discovery is a Royal Class ship.  

[deltahog]

Just now, Cruise Raider said:

 
The Discovery is a Royal Class ship.  

Good!  Better buffet!

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, deltahog said:

Good!  Better buffet!

And if your tastes anre anything like mine, go to the furthest aft aisle for the best selections.  My favorites were always there.  
 

[NavyVeteran]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 
The Discovery is a Royal Class ship.  

 

1 hour ago, deltahog said:

Good!  Better buffet!

But no promenade.☹️

[Cruise Raider]

58 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

 

But no promenade.☹️

 
That has no bearing on why I like a ship.  While some people love the wrap around promenade, I love deck 7 on the Royal class ships.  

[DrSea]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Sorry you didn't enjoy your Day 1 on your first Princess cruise as much as you would have hoped. Hopefully, once you got settled in, the rest of your cruise became a lot more fun. It appears you found the Princess Live! where I would imagine a lot of the trivia games were conducted at. Did you go to the evening game shows usually held around 8 pm? The entertainment staff to include the CD on occasion always seem to work extra hard to keep us laughing at those! 

 

We used to enjoy going on Celebrity cruises until their prices for Aqua and above got stupid, especially with the 20% penalty they now tack on if you want to book a cruise with a refundable deposit. But with Princess' diverse 3-5 week itineraries, the awesome treatment we get every day when dining in the Reserve Dining Room, whether we're in a suite or a Reserve Collection mini suite, as well as going to the theater and game shows every night, we'll probably pass on Celebrity cruises for at least the next 3-4 years. But then we're in our 70s and no longer in Celebrity's target demographic.

Who would you say is X target demographic? 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, DrSea said:

Who would you say is X target demographic? 

That’s a good question that has been and continues to be discussed at length over on the Celebrity forum. All I know is their 7-12 day cruises around the Caribbean and the Med no longer interest us, especially when the fares for their Aqua and Sky Suite cabins are running at ridiculous prices when you consider the following. 
 

Applying a 20% increase to the cruise fare to secure a refundable deposit is simply annoying. Charging around $85 pp/day for their All Include promotion, which only includes their Basic Internet package, Classic Beverage package, and daily gratuities. On top of that in order to get similar Internet service and beverage package that Princess provides in their Plus package for $60 pp/day, you have to upgrade to Celebrity’s Premium internet and beverage packages bumping the AI cost to around $120 pp/day. 

 

But then we’re in our 70s now and enjoy looking “behind the curtain”, especially when we can get a much better deal and have access to awesome 3-5 week itineraries when we book our with PCL, NCL, and HAL.

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[DrSea]

17 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That’s a good question that has been and continues to be discussed at length over on the Celebrity forum. All I know is their 7-12 day cruises around the Caribbean and the Med no longer interest us, especially when the fares for their Aqua and Sky Suite cabins are running at ridiculous prices when you consider the following. 
 

Applying a 20% increase to the cruise fare to secure a refundable deposit is simply annoying. Charging around $85 pp/day for their All Include promotion, which only includes their Basic Internet package, Classic Beverage package, and daily gratuities. On top of that in order to get similar Internet service and beverage package that Princess provides in their Plus package for $60 pp/day, you have to upgrade to Celebrity’s Premium internet and beverage packages bumping the AI cost to around $120 pp/day. 

 

But then we’re in our 70s now and enjoy looking “behind the curtain”, especially when we can get a much better deal and have access to awesome 3-5 week itineraries when we book our with PCL, NCL, and HAL.

 

Thanks. Haven't been on X bc of the price relative to PCL.

 

They must be doing something right bc I never see the prices come down 

Edited September 13, 2023 by DrSea

[Ken the cruiser]

55 minutes ago, DrSea said:

Thanks. Haven't been on X bc of the price relative to PCL.

 

They must be doing something right bc I never see the prices come down 

Yes, Celebrity is a quality cruise line, and from my uninformed opinion over here in the peanut gallery, bases their price fluctuations on “supply and demand” more than any other cruise line we cruise with, and right now ever since the pandemic ended there is a huge pent up demand for people to go on a cruise, and they’re capitalizing on that demand. When the demand starts to ease back to pre-pandemic levels, I believe the prices will come back down. 

 

But so are many of the other cruise lines trying to tap into that pent up demand. NCL implemented a 10% military discount policy last November and then implemented their Free At Sea (FAS) Plus promotion a few months ago that made their original FAS much more dynamic, which BTW both of those additions personally were a huge hit for us. PCL implemented their 3 options when booking a cruise with their Cruise Only, Plus, and Premier packages, which we all know has caused quite a stir recently without including a grandfather clause. Even HAL has introduced their Have It All Early Booking Bonus package and enhanced their Club Orange package to include getting a free upgrade to a better cabin in the same Meta category. Both of which motivated us along with their unique 3-5 week itineraries to start booking cruises with HAL again.

 

OK, I’ll stop. Sorry OP for sidetracking your thread. 😁

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[cheezenip]

9 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

These were the differences I noticed:

 

The cabins on Celebrity kick butt but I do love the open closet design on Princess.  The beds are also somewhat more comfortable on Princess.  

Agreedwith this observation

 

 

9 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

The buffet on the Royal Class ships are far superior to those on Celebrity .. on the Grand class ships, the complete opposite is true.  

I'm glad someone else is able to notice this. Though the layout is slightly better (IMHO) with Celebrity's buffet, they "cheat" and serve the same foods most of the time each day at lunch and dinner for the entire week.  Princess Royal Class buffets provide more variety since they change it up daily for the most part.

 

9 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

The biggest difference was the entertainment, activities and events.  We met several others that did the same side by side cruises and the consensus was, Celebrity was just kind of boring.  There was always something fun to participate in on Princess.  And if you felt like just relaxing with some quiet time, there was that, too!  

I am quite critical of the entertainment on Princess compared to RCL, NCL, and even CCL. However, I have to agree completely on your statement. Unless you are a drinker (I am not) and like to socialize at the bars, the activities are sparse compare tp Princess.

 

9 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

We didn’t have a bad time on Celebrity, far from it … it’s just that Princess suited us so much better.  Again, it’s not always been like that, as Celebrity really was our favorite in the past.  And there were things about Celebrity that we liked so much more.  This comes from a frequent standard balcony cruiser so, that may make a difference.  We are not demanding but do love decent to great wine.  We are not foodies but can tell if it is just not great food.  

 

 

As much as I am unhappy with the decline in the food quality with Princess (although I am hopeful that Rudi Sodamin can reverse this trend and bring some of food quality from HAL over to PCL but unsure what type of food budget he has to work with and being under the management of John Padgett I'm not that optimistic), I think Celebrity's food quality is over-rated in the MDR and buffet (I don't do specialty dining).

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!!

Edited September 13, 2023 by cheezenip